Is THIS Britain's most depressed suburb? How deprived community has highest amount of people claiming for mental health as locals say 'its a dump'

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

'It's a dump. It's a 's***hole.'
Those were the words echoed by disheartened locals in the small constituency of Walton in Liverpool, when MailOnline visited Britain's 'most depressed' suburb this week.
Almost one in 20 people in the area, which is home to the iconic stadiums of Liverpool's Anfield and Everton's Goodison Park, claim PIP for depression and anxiety.
It is the highest proportion of any constituency in England and Wales, with 4.7 per cent of residents getting disability benefits on mental health grounds, an analysis of DWP data shows.
It comes as PIP handouts for mental health claims have hit an all-time high, doubling over the last decade, and revealed the areas with the most claims.
In Walton depression and anxiety claims make up about 20 per cent of all PIP claims, which number nearly 15,000 - accounting for 23 per cent of its working-age population.
Along the Walton Road, shops on the main high street had their shutters pulled down, vape shops and bookies had popped up on every corner, and drug deals were taking place in daylight.
Something that locals all seemed to agree on was that Walton had become a 'rubbish' place to live, but while some believed depression was genuinely high in the area, others felt people were just 'milking the system'.
Liverpool Walton is without a doubt one of the most deprived regions in the country.
In fact, the government's Deprivation in English Constituencies data from 2024 shows it is the third most deprived area out of 543 constituencies.
Local Jimmy Little, 65, who claimed to have just come out of prison, told MailOnline: 'I've been depressed for 12 years. I'm back to being a musician now and I'm a lot better.
'Everyone here is poor and we're all struggling.
'Everything is hard here. There's a lot of problems and struggles.
'Poverty is a terrible cause of anxiety, because you haven't got the money to survive.
'I was in jail for many years for robbing security vans and safes and stuff. Nothing that bad. But I bounced back from it.
'I was born nearby and always been here. It's gone terrible down here.
'Gangs of kids won't think twice to stab you.
'I'm just back from prison and I've just got on PIP.'
When our reporter approached an elderly woman, she said: 'It's a dump. It's a 's***hole, that's why'.
Thomas Fox, 35, previously worked in the fire service and is on PIP due to trauma in the workplace, though still works in fire protection.
He told MailOnline: 'Walton has gone terrible, it's rubbish. Absolutely rubbish.
'There's a lot of depression because there's f*** all here. There's literally nothing.
'All the shops are closing down. There are six convenience stores on a block of seven shops. There are halal shops replacing old stores.
'And they've built a mosque now on the corner, and people park on both sides all the way along this main road.
'The high street is full of vape shops. They are constantly raided for selling fake cigarettes and drugs.
'There's a shop down there where they sell drugs in there, they give you a number. And if you're like me and you don't look straight cut they'll preposition you.
'The pubs are the only thing people held on to but with Everton going that's gone down too.
'Everton has moved stadiums and this is going to become the women's ground, but that obviously doesn't bring in as many crowds yet.
'There's good commuter links, there's Anfield down the road, there's no reason for it to be this bad.'
Pointing to empty shops down the street, he said: 'In the last three months that's closed, it used to be a Savers. And that's closed, that's closed, and that charity shop has closed.
'Everything that is open is more of the same.'
Mr Fox seemed to attribute the high levels of mental health claims to the fact asylum seekers have moved into the town.
He said: 'We're all working class here, work hard, and they're putting people next door who have more than us and don't have to work for it.
'So people are trying to get whatever they can get because you've got people who are not integrating but are getting everything so why is it that we are struggling for everything that we have?
'We've got a 2020 Kia Nero. The asylum seeker family who have moved in next door have a 2025 7-seater Mercedes, but don't have jobs.
'It's given to them by the council, they get food deliveries twice a week and get a cleaner who comes in.
'All the streets around here, the houses are being bought up my immigration. On weekends they bring the sofas out and have drinks and smoke.'
Mr Fox moved to the area four years ago but had lived close by and visited Walton since young.
He said: 'We moved here about four years ago because it's the only place we could afford.
'We bought a three-bed terraced house for £70k. Nowhere else is that price.'
Meanwhile, Joe Brian, 48, who moved to Walton from Newcastle in 2022, took a swipe at those claiming benefits, alleging that people were 'milking the government'.
He said: 'No one wants to work here.
'It's a s***hole, it's terrible.
'It's stemmed from the 80s, just more and more lazy people.
'I've just moved here three years ago from Newcastle. There are loads of foreigners here but you can't blame them, they are out working.
'But others are sitting at home claiming there's something wrong with them and there's not. They just want to sit at home.
'Now there's kids who have never worked a day in their life and they've just been signed off for life.
'People are on fortunes milking the government. "Unfit for work" and all that, lazy b*****ds.'
An 18-year-old, who while acknowledging it was a genuine case for many, was also speculative about the number of people suffering depression in the area.
She said: 'I think a lot of people over-exaggerate.
'Don't get me wrong I think a lot of people actually have mental health problems, but I think people also exaggerate it.
'And depression and anxiety are easier to exaggerate than physical disabilities.'
An article by the Liverpool Echo in 2022 claimed the poverty was so dire in Walton that families were forced to skip meals to get by.
Local Labour MP Dan Carden, who says his constituency is the most deprived in the UK, says 'welfare' is not the answer and called on the government to invest in the area.
He said: 'The government must pay particular attention to Walton. We will be judged on what happens here over these five years.
Almost one in 20 people in Walton are understood to claim PIP for depression and anxiety - the largest proportion of any UK constituency
'Welfare is not the answer, it just plugs the gaps for people suffering poor health because of poverty and lack of opportunity.
'I see how constant rent increases hurt people and cause real suffering here.
'We need good, well-paid, secure work and quality housing, with local people prioritised.
'Otherwise the welfare bill will keep expanding in places like Walton.'
According to government data, Liverpool Walton, Liverpool Riverside, Blackpool South, Birmingham Ladywood and Knowsley are the five most deprived communities in England.
Another local Brian Wignall echoed the same sentiments about Walton.
He said: 'I think everyone is depressed around here.
'Unemployment is so high. There are men and women who are perfectly able to work but the problem is if I were getting far more on benefits, why would I work?
'I've worked for 50 years not a day on benefits until now.'
Speaking about the number of people on benefits for depression and anxiety he said: 'People are depressed.
'People are popping pills left right and centre because it gets them through the day.
'I take tablets everyday to get me out of bed.
'And then you've got people who will milk the system.
'But then you've got another half of people who can't even get into the system.
'I had to go through and file three years of medical examinations and go through tribunals to finally get my PIP.'
On how much the area has changed, he continued: 'I'm 73 now, and when I started drinking this was the road.
'You would not believe the changes. That road there was full of lots of shops. This road itself there were six shoe shops, there was everything you needed.
'It was fantastic. But people have moved on since. It is probably one of the worst roads in Liverpool now.
'It's the drugs isn't it. Just drugs, drugs, drugs.
'Every shop now is Sri Lankan, they took over all the shops, and now it's the Yemenese.
'Every time a shop closes down another opens.
'There's a butchers there that's been here 60 years and it's closed down.
'What really gripes me is I've paid into the system for 50 whatever years. I've never had what the asylum seekers are getting. I've never had that.
'I'm in one of the flats, this Iranian family opposite me are in a three-bed house. And they've got a 2025 plate Nissan Qashqai just given to them.'
Just a few minutes down from Walton Road, Oakfield Road crosses past Anfield Stadium.
Here too, most shops are either shut for the season, or shut permanently, with many buildings laying empty.
Liverpool City Council have said Anfield will be undergoing a major £5million revamp scheme later this year which includes the main Walton Breck Road and connecting streets leading to Liverpool stadium.
There are also wider plans to redevelop deprived areas in Liverpool North and build more than 10,000 new homes.
Local Jackie Barcas, who has worked as an NHS cleaner for 25 years, disagreed with the negative depiction of the constituency.
She exclaimed: 'It's not that bad.
'I've lived around here most of my life and it's not at all like that.
'They make it out like it is but not everyone here sits around.
'Of course there are people who aren't working but you get that everywhere.
'I've done my job for 25 years. My family all worked and I was brought up with that.
'If you're brought up with that you do work.
'But loads of people do swing the lead.
A row of houses that have been boarded up, with graffiti across it reading 'NOWHERE'
'It is a poor area and people will be like that in these sorts of places.
'I think it's deprived everywhere though, wages are crap, the cost-of-living is high.
'It's hard but you just get on don't you. But some people will just swing the lead.
'But we're not all lazy in the area.'
Meanwhile, a local in Walton told of how she has suffered anxiety from a young age.
She said: 'I suffer with anxiety but I've had it since young.
'I think you grow up around it, I grew up with a single mum out working all the time so she had anxiety.
'So I grew up with it too and always had it. I try not to be the same with my little one.'
Another local said: 'People are struggling around here. It's gone terrible now. It used to be a nice area but it's gone downhill.
'There's a lot of poverty, everyone is struggling to get by.
'I am looking for a job now but it's so hard. I even printed out my CV and went around giving it but nothing.
'I'm on Universal Credit and I've done courses through them.
'Everyone is struggling to afford to take people on.'
A customer in a salon who suffers severe anxiety and claims PIP for it told MailOnline: 'The people who need it the most are suffering.
'And then there are a lot of people in this area who just say they are ill.
'I'm on PIP myself but I've got a diagnosis, I've got a doctors note and everything to show for it.
'But a lot of people say they've got back problems or say they have depression because they are easy ones to get.
'There is a lot of poverty in this area, a lot of homelessness, a lot of addicts in recovery, which is linked to mental health issues. So it is hard.
'I do know of two people who are on it but shouldn't be.
'People feel they don't need to work because they're getting the benefits.'
Councillor Dan Barrington, Cabinet Member for Transport and Connectivity, said: 'The redevelopment of the Anfield community has been more than a decade in the making and we're now entering a key phase to improving the heart of it.
'Creating a healthier, greener, safer and more visually appealing high street will have a major impact on the day-to-day quality of life of our residents. This will set the foundation for further development to come to the housing and retail offer in the area.'
Councillor Nick Small, Liverpool City Council's Cabinet Member for Economy and Growth, said: 'Enhancing the public spaces along Oakfield Road and Walton Breck Road is a vital aspect and a longstanding goal of the Anfield regeneration programme.
'Importantly, these proposed improvements to the High Street will connect various regeneration projects in the surrounding area.
'This investment will also provide a boost to the existing businesses and those looking to invest and grow here, and there's more improvements to come once plans for Anfield Square are formalised.'